Jojo says stardom really isn't glamorous

Published 1:00 am, Monday, November 29, 2004

Though she has only released two singles so far in her career, soulful R B/pop singer JoJo is in incredibly high demand.

Earlier this month, she returned to the United States after spending three weeks promoting her debut album through interviews and TV appearances in Tokyo, London and Paris. From there, she flew to Los Angeles to perform her hot new single, "Baby It's You," with rapper
Bow Wow
on "The Steve Harvey Show." She also served as a presenter at the American Music Awards and did a photo shoot for
Teen People
.

On Dec. 10, fans can catch JoJo in concert when she performs at Madison Square Garden in New York City for the first time ever as part of Z100's Jingle Ball 2004 concert. The bill also includes
Hilary Duff
,
Vanessa Carlton
,
Ashlee Simpson

The youngest of the show's performers, JoJo, 13, isn't yet able to go on spending sprees - despite the success of her first hit single, "Leave (Get Out)."

"People automatically think that when you have the first single, you're rich - and you're not," JoJo explained in a Nov. 12 interview from her hotel room in West Hollywood. "Yes, I have money. Yes, I'm comfortable. But that doesn't mean that I can buy a house. I have an apartment and everything and I have a place in Massachusetts. I bought a cell phone. That's it!

"Really, this is not glamorous," she said. "I do not ride in the back of limousines all day and get diamonds and stuff. It's hard work and it's tiring. But I love what I do."

Born
Joanna Levesque
on Dec. 20, 1990, JoJo grew up in Foxboro, Mass. Father Joel was a blues singer and mother Diana (now JoJo's manager) sang in church and cleaned houses.

The couple divorced and JoJo and her mother struggled financially. But Diana gave her daughter a great gift, introducing her to music by
Aretha Franklin
,
Etta James
and
Whitney Houston
. Eventually, JoJo gravitated toward urban music by
R. Kelly
, Aaliyah, Dru Hill, Joe, Usher and Beyonce.

When she was 6, JoJo caught a major break, appearing on the CBS show "Kids Say the Darndest Things." She sang Aretha Franklin's "Respect" for the show's host,
Bill Cosby
.

"It's a lot easier to remember because I have it on video," JoJo said. "A lot of people don't have their memories on video, but I do. I really do remember how I felt walking out on there because it was such a profound moment for me and it was the start of something very special. I remember walking out onto that stage and feeling just amazing."

The performance led to appearances on various talk shows. When JoJo was 12, she performed on the TV show "America's Most Talented Kids" and got a call from producer
Vincent Herbert
(Aaliyah,
Toni Braxton
, Destiny's Child).

Herbert helped JoJo get a deal with
Blackground/Universal Records
. Her self-titled debut came out June 22 and reached No. 4 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. "Leave (Get Out)" was an Adult Top 40 hit and
MTV
favorite. Though JoJo didn't write it, she had considerable input in recording it.

"It was actually kind of my idea to have vocals in the background going 'Leave! Now! Why!'" JoJo said. "People talk about that because it's just different and 'Why is it there?' But why not? So we decided to put that in there. And I wanted harmonies. Initially, when the song was written, there were no harmonies in it and it was a lot more rock and pop than R B. But since I'm more of an R B vocalist, I wanted to add something like that to it. We added the harmonies and the (vocal) stacks and it turned out different than they had imagined it."

In addition to a cover of SWV's 1992 hit "Weak," the album includes three songs written by JoJo. "Sunshine" was the first song recorded for the album and set a precedent for the R B direction the CD would take. Meanwhile, "Keep On Keepin' On" makes reference to JoJo's experiences growing up in one of the lower-income families in her neighborhood.

"I know so many people can relate to that," said JoJo, who is part Irish, Polish, French and American Indian. "And that's why I thought it was important to get that on the album so it was more well rounded and the whole album wasn't just talking about boys. Boys are nice, boys are fun, but there's also real things. It's a song how things can't be bad for so long, you just need to keep on keepin' on."

The third JoJo-penned track?

" 'Yes Or No' is just telling this stupid boy to make up his mind!" she said. "I think that they need to be told sometimes. That's what it's about."

Following her Jingle Ball performance, JoJo won't be able to stick around and watch the other acts. Instead, she'll catch a flight to Washington, D.C., where she's scheduled to sing for President
George W. Bush
. Though she's previously performed at a
Republican National Convention
, JoJo has said that she'll perform for anyone who wants to hear her. And she appreciates her success so far.

"It is pretty cool and I've been very blessed," JoJo said. "I think about it all the time - how lucky I am and how most girls only dream of doing this. But it is very difficult. It's really hard.

"I guess the coolest part for me has been to prove people wrong," she added. "It's such a general term, but I feel like so many people doubted me in my hometown and just everywhere. And now I'm proving them wrong and that you don't need to be a certain age, you don't need to be a certain race or sing a certain kind of music to be successful. I'm just happy that I can prove some people wrong."

JoJo, who has played a wide variety of radio shows, has toured with Usher in Europe and on the Rock Roll Gymnastics Championships Tour in the United States. In February, she'll begin shooting for the FOX film "Aquamarine."

For now, though, she'll continue to impress her ever-growing fan base on tour.

"Performing, for me, is kind of to validate to people that I can actually sing," said JoJo, who lives in New Jersey. "And it's so funny, but a lot of people honestly don't sing live as we've come to see in the last few months - not naming any names. I mean, I love to see the audience and I think it's so cool when they sing the words to the song. That means a lot. I hope that they get out of it what they expected. Whatever that is, I hope that they got it."

The show begins at 7 p.m., with doors opening at 6 p.m. The venue is at the corner of 32nd Street and 7th Avenue. The "Z100 All Access Lounge" runs from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Hammerstein Ballroom, 311 West 34th St. It will include autographs, interactive displays and performances by Gavin DeGraw and Bowling For Soup.

For ticket information and more details, call (212) 307-7171 or visit
www.Z100.com
.